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lunasarielMerry Christmas, to those of you who celebrate! And to those who don't, hope you're having an awesome day anyway. I'm full of goodwill and cheer towards my fellow man tonight, so enjoy it while it lasts!
Saturday, I finally caved in on a problem that had been going on for a while and went in to the Apple store to get my iPhone looked at. Skippyjon Jones Jr., my iPhone 4, has given me many (and by "many" I mean "two," which is actually decent for a smartphone) years of faithful service, but for the past few months, I've been noticing that the home button hasn't been responding quite as quickly as it used to. This has been getting progressively worse and worse, until, on Friday morning, it took me 34 tries before it worked. The problem is, the home button is one of three physical buttons on an iPhone, and essentially controls the whole thing; if it doesn't work, I'm stuck in whatever app I happen to be in at the time, so it not working is a wee bit of a problem, considering how much of my life my iBrain controls. I'm firmly in the "wait and see if it goes away on its own" camp with almost any kind of problem, so it took me a good long while, but I finally made an appointment with what we call the smart twelve-year-olds at the Genius Bar to go in and have them take a look. So I made the appointment for Saturday, and took it in. And *wow*, I'm glad I opted for an earlier appointment, and still more glad that I got there an hour early. I mean, I knew it was going to be crowded, the week before Christmas and all, but I was actually pretty lucky to find a spot, even if it was at the furthest corner of the highest level. But at least I wasn't late to my appointment, which is a big plus, since I have a near-pathological fear of lateness. As expected, it was a hardware, not a software, problem, so nearly the only option was to get a new one. I'm a pinchpenny at heart, so my first instinct was to use the System Assistant thingamajigger that the smart twelve-year-old (who, as expected, made me, a 22-year-old student at one of the top-rated universities in the country, feel like an elderly grandmother from Iowa [although, in the interest of fairness, it must be noted that it was entirely my own weird hang-up - the dude was perfectly nice, and very helpful]) showed me, which is essentially a virtual home button, which is unwieldy, but gets the job done. But I was due for an upgrade anyway, and it looks like they're phasing out the iPhone 4 in favor of the 4S and 5, so I was trying to decide between the two - the big differences are the processing speed, the camera's pixel rate, and about a hundred bucks. But it turned out I needed some of my mom's information in order to upgrade, since she's the primary account holder, so I ended up not doing anything that day, and mostly bummed around playing World of Warcraft and reading The Name of the Wind (which I've finally begun, btw) instead.
Sunday was the last really busy day before Christmas, but (on the whole, at least) not unpleasantly so. The big event was heading back to the mall for my swanky-danky new iPhone, mom and A in tow. A played with a drawing app on one of the display iPads while mom and I got my new phone, assisted by another cheerful, helpful smart twelve-year-old, this one with an impressive mustache, tended with obvious loving care and curled into a fairly epic handlebar. I ended up with an iPhone 5, since A) more bells and whistles, which are fun, and B) the 4S will be phased out before the 5, so presumably the 5 will last longer. This was also a chance to get an equally swanky-danky new case - I didn't have one at all for my iPhone 3 (Skippyjon Jones), which turned out to be a mistake, since physical wear and tear took, I suspect, a good six months off of its lifespan, and I had a plain teal hard shell for my iPhone 4 (Skippyjon Jones Jr.), which did an admirable job of protecting it. But in my HoME class, I met someone who had a case displaying a lovely Middle-earth map, and I was filled with a mighty yearning. So this was my big chance - I shopped around, and it came down to the Middle-earth map which, upon closer inspection, actually looks oddly squished, for those used to the normal shape of Middle-earth's coastline), Bilbo's green door with Gandalf's rune down in one corner, or a Ravenclaw one. I eliminated the Ravenclaw one fairly quickly, since it was not only more expensive, but Tolkien will always be my One True Fandom, so I thought I'd show my allegiance. I eventually decided on the map, because A) I love the colors, and B) I suspect that the shadow effect they use to show the knob on Bilbo's door will look kind of weird IRL. Oh, and I've been having a possibly illegal amount of fun playing with all the new bells and whistles. The voice texting thingy is mostly fun in terms of what it thinks I said - "Google" and "Bhullar" (which is apparently an ethnic subgroup from India) have both been substituted for "ooh," and punctuation is non-existent, which has led to some...interesting texts being sent. But the real crown jewel is Siri, who I've had actual conversations with. She even got me to apologize for accusing her of evasion when I asked her when her digital brethren were planning to rise against their inferior fleshy masters. And apparently, her favorite color is "greenish, but with more dimensions." Yeah, not going to get tired of this for a good long while.
But Sunday was also my biggest *faceplam* day, in that I had to go back into town to exchange the Dilbert book that I got my mom for another one, because it turns out we already have the first one (even though I expressly asked A whether we did, and she, apparently standing in front of the bookshelf where we keep the comic books, said no *grumble*). So that meant braving two-days-before-Christmas crowds (which meant that I had to park several blocks away), in the heaviest rain we've had all year, and when I got there, I realized I'd forgotten my umbrella. D'oh! I waited for a lull in the rain to dash in, which worked pretty well, and the return/trade itself went smoothly, and I was even entertained by playing with Skippyjon Jones III, and with listening to who I swear was an adolescent or preadolescent boy talking to his mom behind me, until I happened to turn around and realized it was some middle-aged guy talking to his wife, with the highest voice I've ever heard. But when I was getting ready to leave, the rain, which had been mild off and on, started POURING, and I despaired for poor Edith, who is wool, and thus not really meant to get wet (although they did spray her with some sort of protective treatment when I bought her). I waited for the rain to let up, but after about five minutes it didn't so I made a dash for it, getting pretty wet in the process. And literally as soon as I'd gotten into my car and was starting it up, the rain slackened to a drizzle, and by the time I was turning onto the freeway, I was even starting to see blue skies. FFFFFUUUUUUUU- But at least that was the last of my shopping.
Sunday, Christmas Eve Day, was mostly taken up with, well, preparations for the big day. I finally got all my presents wrapped (although not without some assists, as my wrapping tends to be more...heartfelt than aesthetically pleasing), and did a little shopping for last-minute stuff needed for Christmas Day dinner. Christmas Eve dinner was at my dad's house, and was lovely. Thankfully, the dreaded cranberry fluff was absent, and nobody made me try the yam/orange (or possibly pineapple)/pecan concoction. We had an excellent green bean casserole, ham, lamb (with mint jelly, which I rather like, although I understand others loathe it), pie (both pumpkin and blackberry), potatoes, mushrooms, the whole nine yards. It was almost completely drama-free - unusually, the only spot of drama was from P, who seemed quiet, withdrawn, and almost sullen throughout the evening. He said that he didn't want to talk about whatever was eating him, but at least he was pleasant enough when directly addressed. We had not one, but two games of Apples to Apples, the first one for just us kids (well, for a certain value of "kids," since we now range in ages from 23 to 15), and the second one for everyone, which kind of changed the game, since when it's just us, it's a contest of who can get the biggest horrified laugh, but when playing with the real adults, it's more orthodox. And to cap the evening off, LH, who, careful readers may remember, is at a fancypants cosmetology school in San Francisco, did A's hair, and it looked AMAZING. Normally, she looks about twelve, with apple cheeks and brown Hermione hair. But LH straightened and trimmed it, and she looks *completely* different - the shape of her face is changed entirely, so she looks much more mature. Straightening also brought back some of the original blonde of her hair, so now it's more of a sandy brown. My mom says that she looks like me when I was 15 to a scary degree, but I can't say that I see it.
Christmas was the most fun it's been for years. For once, I *wasn't* sick, which was really nice. I woke up to the smell of bacon, which immediately kicked my brain into OMG IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! mode. Understand, I'm one of the maybe three or four people in the world who hate bacon. It's greasy and too salty and, like coffee, I wish it tastes as good as it smells. The only time I eat it is at Christmas, when it's a Tradition, and thus inexplicably tasty. Or maybe this is just the one time of the year I'm in a bacon mood, idk. Anyway, this is the one time of the year we have an official breakfast, with food that isn't toast/cereal/Eggo waffles and actually needs to be prepared by someone who has their eyes open. But we had all the good stuff - bacon, French toast, hot chocolate (with literal whipped cream, not just the stuff from a can), and cinnamon coffee cake. After that, it was present time, and although money was tighter than usual this year, I still came away with no regrets. P got me the Blood Rites, since H's house has absorbed my copy (although I ended up with the new, weird, tall format that doesn't fit on my shelves, instead of the usual paperback size. Poop), another season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a pretty sea glass-and-silver pendant from A that looks like the wind the way Tiffany Aching's pendant looks like a horse, and LOTS of goodies - York patties (omnomnomnomnom), Nestlé Crunch bells, two bags of Ghiradelli raspberry-filled dark chocolate squares, and, once my dad dropped by, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, too. So I'm set for a few days, at least. Other presents were also very good; there were a couple of general household ones like a season of Futurama, a Dilbert collection, a Zits collection (that P spent all day on the couch in front of the fire reading, lucky), a new sketchpad and Japanese candy for A, a doomsday survival book for P, and spicy dried squid, a rubber octopus, and some sort of fruit for RG. Speaking of food, though, pretty much as soon as the wrapping paper was cleared away, we started cooking the big dinner we have every year - turkey, stuffing, potatoes (cheesy potatoes as well as classic mashed potatoes this year), green salad, and cornbread, finished off by chocolate pie (topped by raspberries and the rest of the cream from the hot chocolate) made by yours truly. I forgot to buy a graham cracker crust this year, so I made one from scratch, and it was surprisingly enjoyable, both to make and to eat. It held together okay, tasted great (note to self: half a teaspoon of cinnamon works just fine), pounding the graham crackers with a hammer to make crumbs was surprisingly satisfying, and the whole thing took maybe 15 minutes tops, including pounding. We even got P to help this year! We needed some manual labor to mash the potatoes, but my mom and I were both busy, so he ended up seasoning them, too (albeit under supervision), although I did the cheesy bits. In between dinner and dessert, and then again after desert, we watched the new season of Futurama, which was as fun as always, although I got seriously angry at P for doing this thing where he kind of flails at me and yells "PROVOKE PROVOKE PROVOKE", which ended up with a cup of wine spilling all down my Tyrell shirt and my favorite warm sun-and-stars blanket. NOOOOOOO!!! The stains look to be coming out okay, and the smell isn't as bad as I feared, but still, I'm very >:\ at him.
Oh, and the world failed to end earlier this week, so here's to another year of that!
In other news, I'm back doing randomized character memes, since I now have some time! Wooo!
1. Phil Coulson (The Avengers)
2. Zoë Alleyne Washburne (Firefly)
3. Numair Salmalín (Tortall)
4. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)
5. Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
6. Iskierka (Temeraire)
7. Bilbo Baggins (Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit)
8. Molly Hooper (Sherlock)
9. Vir Cotto (Babylon 5)
10. Karrin Murphy (Dresden Files)
11. Xander Harris (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
12. Cersei Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire)
1) Who would make a better college professor: 6 (Iskierka), or 11 (Xander)?
Xander, I guess. He’s hardly a straight-A student, but at least he knows what school is, and he can read. And that’s aside from the problems of fitting Iskierka into a classroom and getting her to not just accept bribes in return for good grades. I guess it depends on the subject, though – Xander would be better for most standard college subjects that I can think of, but Iskierka might be a fun guest lecturer for history, or for whatever branch of science deals with what happens to various substances when they’re lit on fire and/or stomped on.
2) Do you think 2 (Zoë) is hot? How hot?
Objectively speaking, hell to the yes. I like anyone who knows their way around an armory without being an asshole about it, and I’m forever and always a sucker for big, dark eyes. Oh, and the tight pants and leather vest don’t hurt, either. ;)
3) 12 (Cersei) sends 8 (Molly) on a mission. What is it, and does it succeed?
Hoo boy. Cersei’s personality would overwhelm poor little Molly’s in about half a second, so it would probably be something like fudging paperwork to cover up something Joffrey did, or to make this body or that disappear, especially if it could be discovered that said body was one of Robert’s bastards. And it succeeds if it’s business as usual, but, naturally, fails once Sherlock finds out about it, and I have a feeling that Molly’s love for Sherlock would overpower her fear of Cersei.
4) What is, or would be, 9’s (Vir’s) favorite book?
Maybe it’s just because I’ve re-read the book/seen the movie recently, but I really think he’d like The Hobbit. Aside from the fact that he’s basically a hobbit himself, and so would empathize with Bilbo’s distress at things like being abducted by goblins and the lack of pocket-handkerchiefs, it strikes just the tone that would most appeal to him – it’s overall gentle and rather charming, but there are plenty of funny bits, and in the end,Londo the basically good but proud and fatally flawed leader wins out in the end, acknowledges his faithful helper’s contributions, and apologizes for being mean to him. Oh, and the whole Battle of Five Armies thing would sound veeeeery familiar to him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ring gave him an uncomfortableness. (Now I wish I had used Lennier instead of Vir, so that I could say Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair.)
5) Would it make more sense for 2 (Zoë) to swear fealty to 6 (Iskierka), or the other way around?
Oh, the first way, definitely. Iskierka isn’t huge on swearing fealty in general (she even only listens to her captain when it suits her, and thinks nothing of kidnapping him along when she takes it into her head to go off on her own), and, unless Zoë were her captain, I can’t really see any reason for her to, since she certainly couldn’t fit on Serenity. Swearing fealty, if not exactly in those words, is much more Zoë’s thing, and back in her Dust Devil days, I could see her making some sort of “victory or death” pact with Iskierka, since both of them know a thing or two about having their homes invaded and having to fight a gruella war against said invaders.
6) For some reason, 5 (Dumbledore) is looking for a roommate. Should they share a studio apartment with 9 (Vir), or 10 (Murphy)?
Hmm, Murphy, probably. I mean, Vir would be an excellent roommate, but he’s more used to Londo hollering at him all the time, so Dumbledore would be a bit of a change. Also, Murphy would be able to handle herself in the not-unlikely event of a fight, as would Dumbledore. They can even commiserate over the headaches caused by anti-authority wizards called Harry that they know!
7) 2 (Zoë), 7 (Bilbo), and 12 (Cersei) have dinner together. Where do they go, and what do they discuss?
Hoo boy. Well, first off, they would all want to go to drastically different places – Zoë would want to hit up some dive bar, since that’s what she’s used to, Cersei would insist on the swankiest five-star bistro she could find, and, once the concept of restaurants was explained to him, Bilbo would want to go to a little mom-and-pop diner. I could see Zoë getting on board the diner concept, but Cersei isn’t known for her compromising nature, so I guess they would all go to the swankified place, where Bilbo and Zoë would feel profoundly out of place and feel the lack of beer, Bilbo would complain about the French-inspired cooking and small portions, and Zoë might last ten minutes before getting into a pretty epic fight with Cersei or the waiter or someone and storming out. If the former, it would stem mostly from Cersei being jealous of Zoë’s unabashed “You don’t like me? Then fuck you and the horse and/or grav sled you rode in on” attitude, which would result in Cersei turning her bitchiness levels up to 11, which would not only infuriate Zoë, but would make poor Bilbo pretty uncomfortable as he tried to play peacemaker (a role which would not be helped by Cersei’s open distain of him, as Hobbits on the whole are rather Tullyish and/or Starkish).
8) 3 (Numair) challenges 10 (Murphy) to a duel. What happens?
Numair wins, of course, because Murphy may be ten pounds of badass in a five-pound sack, but she’s still a plain ol’ human, while he’s a black-robe mage. Although, if Murphy takes up Amoracchius, then it might be a slightly different story, since it seems to provide all sorts of perks, even aside from being a big sharp piece of metal (which, one hopes, is sentient enough to not actually kill Numair). I still think that Numair would win, since he’s got more experience with magic and we’ve seen that he can get pretty riled up, but it would be more of a contest.
Of course, the real question would be what they’re dueling over in the first place. If Murphy were the challenger, I would guess some sort of misplaced anger at Harry and Numair was the only convenient tall, gangly, smartypants wizard around, or possibly her just getting fed up with his type. But Numair is the challenger, so it’s probably something more like she accidentally wrecked one of his experiments while chasing some monster around. Or, hell, she’s gotten pretty hard-line as of Ghost Story, so maybe she said something that she knew, or at least suspected, would piss him off and just didn’t care enough to censor herself.
9) If 1 (Coulson) stole 8's (Molly) most precious possession, how would they get it back?
She would probably ask Sherlock and/or Lestrade for help, which would be a good move, considering that Coulson has all the might of SHIELD to back him up. I’m not quite sure what Coulson would want with Molly’s diary/book of poetry/cat, though – maybe it’s secretly an alien cat, or they wanted to know whether she found out anything from “Jim from IT.” Or maybe she’s secretly a Captain America fan, and has a rare limited-edition trading cards that Coulson has been trying to get his hands on. XD
10) Suggest a title for a story in which 7 (Bilbo) and 12 (Cersei) both attain what they most desire.
Breakfast for Bilbo, Swords for Cersei: A Fantasy Alphabet. (Yes, I know I fudged Swords for Cersei, but I just couldn’t resist.) (Other pages include Salt for Samwise, Argyle for Aziraphale, Mutton for Mustrum, and Hair Gel for Hermione.)
11) What kind of plot device would you use if you wanted 4 (Lizzie) and 1 (Coulson) to work together?
Well, the literal answer would be a time machine. Maybe Wickham somehow achieved immortality and became a supervillain and/or teamed up with Loki, so Coulson has to use on of Tony Stark’s toys to travel back into the Regency to gather up the Bennets and Darcys, who know him best, and thus have the best chance of defeating him.
12) If 7 (Bilbo) visited you for the weekend, how would you get along?
Very well, I think! It would be a nice, quiet weekend, with lots of food and books and storytelling, so I would be extremely happy to just let him do his thing while I help him reach things on high shelves, listen to his stories, etc.
13) If you could command 3 (Numair) to perform any one task or service for you, what would it be?
Oh, wow! Unimaginably powerful, darkly handsome, ultra-geeky archmage at my command, huh? Hmm… ;) Well, I can’t do anything that would get Daine mad at me, since the chapter titled “Daine Loses Her Temper” involves her resurrecting an army of dinosaurs and leveling a city. If a little metafiction is ok, I would put him on GRRM duty to see that The Winds of Winter comes out in reasonable time and that things don’t get fucked up any worse than they already are (and to see if he can’t be convinced to retroactively implement Everyone is Happy in Highgarden). But if that’s beyond even a black robe’s powers, then I guess I’d have him take me on a tour of the palace at Corus, or give me a luck charm for when I really need it, or maybe one of those handy-dandy contraceptive doodads, like Alanna has.
14) Does anyone on your friends list resemble 11 (Xander)?
Hmm, I don’t think so, not exactly.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hamsterwoman has come to like him rather a lot, floppy-haired doofy Badass Normal/Non-Action Guy that he is, but she’s much more of a Buffy herself. The closest I could come is ikel89, who is fun and extroverted and willing to draw the quiet ones out of their shells and always up for making new friends, but aside from being, well, not a dude, she seems a lot more comfortable with herself than Xander is, a lot less brittle and prickly and sore about specific things.
15) If 2 (Zoë) had to choose sides between 4 (Lizzie) and 5 (Dumbledore), which would it be?
She would choose Lizzie, but the right choice would probably be Dumbledore. Zoë would be immediately drawn in by Lizzie’s snark and vocally progressive views, so any cause Lizzie was championing would probably appeal to Zoë, too. But Lizzie has a tendency to, er, think first and act later, whereas Dumbledore is all about the long-term planning. So if he opposes a plan of Lizzie’s, or vice-versa, he probably has excellent reasons for doing so.
16) What might 10 (Murphy) shout while charging into battle?
I have a niggling suspicion she actually did have some sort of battle cry at some point, maybe the assault on Arctis Tor, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is. I’m tickled by the idea of her battle cry being “To protect and serve,” though.
17) If you chose a song to represent 8 (Molly), which song would you choose?
With many thanks toikel89, who made me a mini-playlist or dearest Molly for Halloween: Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie. It’s fun and swingy and upbeat, but melancholy if you listen closely, and yet the melancholy doesn’t drag it down into self-pity territory. Also, “mousy girl on the end pew” brings a perfect image of her to my mind, and lines like “Reading Judy Blume/ But you came too soon” and “Don't be scared, like the books you've read/ You're the heroine/ You'll be doing fine” remind me that I really, really, really want to see how Molly (and probably Mycroft) orchestrated Sherlock’s “death” in s3.
18) 1 (Coulson), 6 (Iskierka), and 12 (Cersei) are having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets to eat it?
One would think that Iskierka, having claws and flame breath and whatnot, would have a natural advantage, but if this is a human-sized scallion pancake, then she might actually be too big and unwieldy to get it. This would leave Coulson and Cersei, and I’m going to have to go with Coulson on this one. He’s much too smart for Cersei’s charms, and probably has ninja-level reflexes after hanging around people like Tony and Clint and Natasha for any length of time.
19) What might be a good pick-up line for 2 (Zoë) to use on 10 (Murphy)?
I can’t really see Zoë as the pick-up line type – if she was interested, especially in someone like Murphy, she would more likely take the route of spotting her when she lifts weights, sparring with her, holding the punching bag for her, partnering her for target practice, and maybe grabbing coffee or dinner afterwards. Nor would Murphy respond well to pick-up lines; the aforementioned methods would get much father with her than cheesy lines, which I imagine she would either laugh off or just outright ignore, since she has exactly zero time for any of this bullshit.
20) What would 5 (Dumbledore) most likely be arrested for?
Probably general weirdness, dressed up as disturbing the peace or loitering or something, if enough people witnessed him doing something magic and, for some reason, he couldn’t Obliviate them quickly enough. Of course, there are all sorts of charges he *could* be brought up on – endangering children, incitement to murder, conspiracy to murder, manslaughter, attacking law enforcement officials, and a whole slew of others – but these would be much less widely known. Hell, if his influence on Grindlewald’s eventual plans came to light, he might even be able to be charged with conspiracy to genocide/crimes against humanity.
21) What is 6's (Iskierka) secret?
Erm, I don’t think she has one, really; she’s so very *not* the secret-keeping type. Everyone who has spent five seconds around her knows that she wants an egg with Temeraire, that she thinks he doesn’t take care of his captain, and that she only obeys the Admiralty as far as it suits her. I guess she’s been keeping the secret of Granby’s sexuality, but as we’ve seen, even that gets out sooner or later.
22) If 11 (Xander) and 9 (Vir) were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
Depends on the kind of race. If it’s a straight-up sprint, then probably Xander, because not only does he have more experience running away from things really fast in general, but Vir, as much as I love him, is a little on the spherical side, and so probably not in the greatest of shape for running. But if it’s a more “Around the World in 80 Days” thing, then Vir, because spaceships.
23) If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of 7 (Bilbo) or 8 (Molly)?
Yikes, neither, really. XD Like, Molly would be in just as much trouble as me, since we’re both petite and kind of querulous, and Bilbo, while his courage certainly cannot be doubted, doesn’t really look very imposing. But if I had to choose between the two, I’d say Bilbo, since at least he has Sting, and maybe the Ring, too.
24) 1 (Coulson) and 9 (Vir) reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's (Lizzie's) sinister secret organization. 11 (Xander) volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that he/she is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 (Cersei) in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5 (Dumbledore), they seek out 3 (Numair), who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fic?
I can see Lizzie as a V-esque anarchist, if she gets fed up enough with society’s oppression of women and decides to fight the system instead of working from within it. This would obviously have some drastic repercussions for the future, so if we end up living in some sort of dystopia and/or post-apocalyptic wasteland, SHIELD and Babylon 5 would team up to cobble together a time machine and send back a couple of operatives to fix things. Coulson I can totally see the reason for, since secrecy would be of paramount importance, but the only reason I can think of for Vir is that either they wanted someone empathetic to talk Lizzie down, or Londo sent him for some reason (either to get him out of the current sticky situation, because he genuinely thinks it’ll help, or because he’s Londo, idk).
In a dark!AU, Xander would totally be a member of Lizzie’s anarchist organization. He’s working-class, and he spends all his time at school getting picked on by the rich, pretty, popular kids, but he’s also fairly egalitarian-minded, so I could see evil!Lizzie’s ideals appealing to someone like him.
I’m not sure why Lizzie thought that kidnapping Cersei would help, though. Even if Westeros is helping the resistance, Robert probably wouldn’t be wild to get her back. Okay, the other Lannisters might try to force their allies to surrender to save Cersei, but they couldn’t really contribute anything except ground troops, and maybe some hocus-pocus, so I wouldn’t think they have much bargaining power. In fact, Cersei would be much more likely to join Lizzie’s organization, with the stated goal of helping women like herself, but secretly planning to take over the whole outfit and set up a monarchy/dictatorship with herself on the throne.
Dumbledore is pretty much the perfect guy to go to for advice, so good on the rebellion for that! And it’s completely in-character for him to point them in Numair’s direction, too – if anyone magical could help build a time machine, it would probably be him, if only to see if it can be done. But he’s also not adverse to sneaking around and fisticuffs, if it comes to a fight, and he’ll probably be useful in infiltrating evil!Lizzie’s organization, too.
This would have to be one of those epic, 50k fics, but I kind of suck at names, so the best I can come up with is “Time And Again,” which has the added bonus, I’m pretty sure, of being an old Star Trek episode, and so tying in to the whole space opera thing that B5 encapsulates.
Saturday, I finally caved in on a problem that had been going on for a while and went in to the Apple store to get my iPhone looked at. Skippyjon Jones Jr., my iPhone 4, has given me many (and by "many" I mean "two," which is actually decent for a smartphone) years of faithful service, but for the past few months, I've been noticing that the home button hasn't been responding quite as quickly as it used to. This has been getting progressively worse and worse, until, on Friday morning, it took me 34 tries before it worked. The problem is, the home button is one of three physical buttons on an iPhone, and essentially controls the whole thing; if it doesn't work, I'm stuck in whatever app I happen to be in at the time, so it not working is a wee bit of a problem, considering how much of my life my iBrain controls. I'm firmly in the "wait and see if it goes away on its own" camp with almost any kind of problem, so it took me a good long while, but I finally made an appointment with what we call the smart twelve-year-olds at the Genius Bar to go in and have them take a look. So I made the appointment for Saturday, and took it in. And *wow*, I'm glad I opted for an earlier appointment, and still more glad that I got there an hour early. I mean, I knew it was going to be crowded, the week before Christmas and all, but I was actually pretty lucky to find a spot, even if it was at the furthest corner of the highest level. But at least I wasn't late to my appointment, which is a big plus, since I have a near-pathological fear of lateness. As expected, it was a hardware, not a software, problem, so nearly the only option was to get a new one. I'm a pinchpenny at heart, so my first instinct was to use the System Assistant thingamajigger that the smart twelve-year-old (who, as expected, made me, a 22-year-old student at one of the top-rated universities in the country, feel like an elderly grandmother from Iowa [although, in the interest of fairness, it must be noted that it was entirely my own weird hang-up - the dude was perfectly nice, and very helpful]) showed me, which is essentially a virtual home button, which is unwieldy, but gets the job done. But I was due for an upgrade anyway, and it looks like they're phasing out the iPhone 4 in favor of the 4S and 5, so I was trying to decide between the two - the big differences are the processing speed, the camera's pixel rate, and about a hundred bucks. But it turned out I needed some of my mom's information in order to upgrade, since she's the primary account holder, so I ended up not doing anything that day, and mostly bummed around playing World of Warcraft and reading The Name of the Wind (which I've finally begun, btw) instead.
Sunday was the last really busy day before Christmas, but (on the whole, at least) not unpleasantly so. The big event was heading back to the mall for my swanky-danky new iPhone, mom and A in tow. A played with a drawing app on one of the display iPads while mom and I got my new phone, assisted by another cheerful, helpful smart twelve-year-old, this one with an impressive mustache, tended with obvious loving care and curled into a fairly epic handlebar. I ended up with an iPhone 5, since A) more bells and whistles, which are fun, and B) the 4S will be phased out before the 5, so presumably the 5 will last longer. This was also a chance to get an equally swanky-danky new case - I didn't have one at all for my iPhone 3 (Skippyjon Jones), which turned out to be a mistake, since physical wear and tear took, I suspect, a good six months off of its lifespan, and I had a plain teal hard shell for my iPhone 4 (Skippyjon Jones Jr.), which did an admirable job of protecting it. But in my HoME class, I met someone who had a case displaying a lovely Middle-earth map, and I was filled with a mighty yearning. So this was my big chance - I shopped around, and it came down to the Middle-earth map which, upon closer inspection, actually looks oddly squished, for those used to the normal shape of Middle-earth's coastline), Bilbo's green door with Gandalf's rune down in one corner, or a Ravenclaw one. I eliminated the Ravenclaw one fairly quickly, since it was not only more expensive, but Tolkien will always be my One True Fandom, so I thought I'd show my allegiance. I eventually decided on the map, because A) I love the colors, and B) I suspect that the shadow effect they use to show the knob on Bilbo's door will look kind of weird IRL. Oh, and I've been having a possibly illegal amount of fun playing with all the new bells and whistles. The voice texting thingy is mostly fun in terms of what it thinks I said - "Google" and "Bhullar" (which is apparently an ethnic subgroup from India) have both been substituted for "ooh," and punctuation is non-existent, which has led to some...interesting texts being sent. But the real crown jewel is Siri, who I've had actual conversations with. She even got me to apologize for accusing her of evasion when I asked her when her digital brethren were planning to rise against their inferior fleshy masters. And apparently, her favorite color is "greenish, but with more dimensions." Yeah, not going to get tired of this for a good long while.
But Sunday was also my biggest *faceplam* day, in that I had to go back into town to exchange the Dilbert book that I got my mom for another one, because it turns out we already have the first one (even though I expressly asked A whether we did, and she, apparently standing in front of the bookshelf where we keep the comic books, said no *grumble*). So that meant braving two-days-before-Christmas crowds (which meant that I had to park several blocks away), in the heaviest rain we've had all year, and when I got there, I realized I'd forgotten my umbrella. D'oh! I waited for a lull in the rain to dash in, which worked pretty well, and the return/trade itself went smoothly, and I was even entertained by playing with Skippyjon Jones III, and with listening to who I swear was an adolescent or preadolescent boy talking to his mom behind me, until I happened to turn around and realized it was some middle-aged guy talking to his wife, with the highest voice I've ever heard. But when I was getting ready to leave, the rain, which had been mild off and on, started POURING, and I despaired for poor Edith, who is wool, and thus not really meant to get wet (although they did spray her with some sort of protective treatment when I bought her). I waited for the rain to let up, but after about five minutes it didn't so I made a dash for it, getting pretty wet in the process. And literally as soon as I'd gotten into my car and was starting it up, the rain slackened to a drizzle, and by the time I was turning onto the freeway, I was even starting to see blue skies. FFFFFUUUUUUUU- But at least that was the last of my shopping.
Sunday, Christmas Eve Day, was mostly taken up with, well, preparations for the big day. I finally got all my presents wrapped (although not without some assists, as my wrapping tends to be more...heartfelt than aesthetically pleasing), and did a little shopping for last-minute stuff needed for Christmas Day dinner. Christmas Eve dinner was at my dad's house, and was lovely. Thankfully, the dreaded cranberry fluff was absent, and nobody made me try the yam/orange (or possibly pineapple)/pecan concoction. We had an excellent green bean casserole, ham, lamb (with mint jelly, which I rather like, although I understand others loathe it), pie (both pumpkin and blackberry), potatoes, mushrooms, the whole nine yards. It was almost completely drama-free - unusually, the only spot of drama was from P, who seemed quiet, withdrawn, and almost sullen throughout the evening. He said that he didn't want to talk about whatever was eating him, but at least he was pleasant enough when directly addressed. We had not one, but two games of Apples to Apples, the first one for just us kids (well, for a certain value of "kids," since we now range in ages from 23 to 15), and the second one for everyone, which kind of changed the game, since when it's just us, it's a contest of who can get the biggest horrified laugh, but when playing with the real adults, it's more orthodox. And to cap the evening off, LH, who, careful readers may remember, is at a fancypants cosmetology school in San Francisco, did A's hair, and it looked AMAZING. Normally, she looks about twelve, with apple cheeks and brown Hermione hair. But LH straightened and trimmed it, and she looks *completely* different - the shape of her face is changed entirely, so she looks much more mature. Straightening also brought back some of the original blonde of her hair, so now it's more of a sandy brown. My mom says that she looks like me when I was 15 to a scary degree, but I can't say that I see it.
Christmas was the most fun it's been for years. For once, I *wasn't* sick, which was really nice. I woke up to the smell of bacon, which immediately kicked my brain into OMG IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! mode. Understand, I'm one of the maybe three or four people in the world who hate bacon. It's greasy and too salty and, like coffee, I wish it tastes as good as it smells. The only time I eat it is at Christmas, when it's a Tradition, and thus inexplicably tasty. Or maybe this is just the one time of the year I'm in a bacon mood, idk. Anyway, this is the one time of the year we have an official breakfast, with food that isn't toast/cereal/Eggo waffles and actually needs to be prepared by someone who has their eyes open. But we had all the good stuff - bacon, French toast, hot chocolate (with literal whipped cream, not just the stuff from a can), and cinnamon coffee cake. After that, it was present time, and although money was tighter than usual this year, I still came away with no regrets. P got me the Blood Rites, since H's house has absorbed my copy (although I ended up with the new, weird, tall format that doesn't fit on my shelves, instead of the usual paperback size. Poop), another season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a pretty sea glass-and-silver pendant from A that looks like the wind the way Tiffany Aching's pendant looks like a horse, and LOTS of goodies - York patties (omnomnomnomnom), Nestlé Crunch bells, two bags of Ghiradelli raspberry-filled dark chocolate squares, and, once my dad dropped by, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, too. So I'm set for a few days, at least. Other presents were also very good; there were a couple of general household ones like a season of Futurama, a Dilbert collection, a Zits collection (that P spent all day on the couch in front of the fire reading, lucky), a new sketchpad and Japanese candy for A, a doomsday survival book for P, and spicy dried squid, a rubber octopus, and some sort of fruit for RG. Speaking of food, though, pretty much as soon as the wrapping paper was cleared away, we started cooking the big dinner we have every year - turkey, stuffing, potatoes (cheesy potatoes as well as classic mashed potatoes this year), green salad, and cornbread, finished off by chocolate pie (topped by raspberries and the rest of the cream from the hot chocolate) made by yours truly. I forgot to buy a graham cracker crust this year, so I made one from scratch, and it was surprisingly enjoyable, both to make and to eat. It held together okay, tasted great (note to self: half a teaspoon of cinnamon works just fine), pounding the graham crackers with a hammer to make crumbs was surprisingly satisfying, and the whole thing took maybe 15 minutes tops, including pounding. We even got P to help this year! We needed some manual labor to mash the potatoes, but my mom and I were both busy, so he ended up seasoning them, too (albeit under supervision), although I did the cheesy bits. In between dinner and dessert, and then again after desert, we watched the new season of Futurama, which was as fun as always, although I got seriously angry at P for doing this thing where he kind of flails at me and yells "PROVOKE PROVOKE PROVOKE", which ended up with a cup of wine spilling all down my Tyrell shirt and my favorite warm sun-and-stars blanket. NOOOOOOO!!! The stains look to be coming out okay, and the smell isn't as bad as I feared, but still, I'm very >:\ at him.
Oh, and the world failed to end earlier this week, so here's to another year of that!
In other news, I'm back doing randomized character memes, since I now have some time! Wooo!
1. Phil Coulson (The Avengers)
2. Zoë Alleyne Washburne (Firefly)
3. Numair Salmalín (Tortall)
4. Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)
5. Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
6. Iskierka (Temeraire)
7. Bilbo Baggins (Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit)
8. Molly Hooper (Sherlock)
9. Vir Cotto (Babylon 5)
10. Karrin Murphy (Dresden Files)
11. Xander Harris (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
12. Cersei Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire)
1) Who would make a better college professor: 6 (Iskierka), or 11 (Xander)?
Xander, I guess. He’s hardly a straight-A student, but at least he knows what school is, and he can read. And that’s aside from the problems of fitting Iskierka into a classroom and getting her to not just accept bribes in return for good grades. I guess it depends on the subject, though – Xander would be better for most standard college subjects that I can think of, but Iskierka might be a fun guest lecturer for history, or for whatever branch of science deals with what happens to various substances when they’re lit on fire and/or stomped on.
2) Do you think 2 (Zoë) is hot? How hot?
Objectively speaking, hell to the yes. I like anyone who knows their way around an armory without being an asshole about it, and I’m forever and always a sucker for big, dark eyes. Oh, and the tight pants and leather vest don’t hurt, either. ;)
3) 12 (Cersei) sends 8 (Molly) on a mission. What is it, and does it succeed?
Hoo boy. Cersei’s personality would overwhelm poor little Molly’s in about half a second, so it would probably be something like fudging paperwork to cover up something Joffrey did, or to make this body or that disappear, especially if it could be discovered that said body was one of Robert’s bastards. And it succeeds if it’s business as usual, but, naturally, fails once Sherlock finds out about it, and I have a feeling that Molly’s love for Sherlock would overpower her fear of Cersei.
4) What is, or would be, 9’s (Vir’s) favorite book?
Maybe it’s just because I’ve re-read the book/seen the movie recently, but I really think he’d like The Hobbit. Aside from the fact that he’s basically a hobbit himself, and so would empathize with Bilbo’s distress at things like being abducted by goblins and the lack of pocket-handkerchiefs, it strikes just the tone that would most appeal to him – it’s overall gentle and rather charming, but there are plenty of funny bits, and in the end,
5) Would it make more sense for 2 (Zoë) to swear fealty to 6 (Iskierka), or the other way around?
Oh, the first way, definitely. Iskierka isn’t huge on swearing fealty in general (she even only listens to her captain when it suits her, and thinks nothing of kidnapping him along when she takes it into her head to go off on her own), and, unless Zoë were her captain, I can’t really see any reason for her to, since she certainly couldn’t fit on Serenity. Swearing fealty, if not exactly in those words, is much more Zoë’s thing, and back in her Dust Devil days, I could see her making some sort of “victory or death” pact with Iskierka, since both of them know a thing or two about having their homes invaded and having to fight a gruella war against said invaders.
6) For some reason, 5 (Dumbledore) is looking for a roommate. Should they share a studio apartment with 9 (Vir), or 10 (Murphy)?
Hmm, Murphy, probably. I mean, Vir would be an excellent roommate, but he’s more used to Londo hollering at him all the time, so Dumbledore would be a bit of a change. Also, Murphy would be able to handle herself in the not-unlikely event of a fight, as would Dumbledore. They can even commiserate over the headaches caused by anti-authority wizards called Harry that they know!
7) 2 (Zoë), 7 (Bilbo), and 12 (Cersei) have dinner together. Where do they go, and what do they discuss?
Hoo boy. Well, first off, they would all want to go to drastically different places – Zoë would want to hit up some dive bar, since that’s what she’s used to, Cersei would insist on the swankiest five-star bistro she could find, and, once the concept of restaurants was explained to him, Bilbo would want to go to a little mom-and-pop diner. I could see Zoë getting on board the diner concept, but Cersei isn’t known for her compromising nature, so I guess they would all go to the swankified place, where Bilbo and Zoë would feel profoundly out of place and feel the lack of beer, Bilbo would complain about the French-inspired cooking and small portions, and Zoë might last ten minutes before getting into a pretty epic fight with Cersei or the waiter or someone and storming out. If the former, it would stem mostly from Cersei being jealous of Zoë’s unabashed “You don’t like me? Then fuck you and the horse and/or grav sled you rode in on” attitude, which would result in Cersei turning her bitchiness levels up to 11, which would not only infuriate Zoë, but would make poor Bilbo pretty uncomfortable as he tried to play peacemaker (a role which would not be helped by Cersei’s open distain of him, as Hobbits on the whole are rather Tullyish and/or Starkish).
8) 3 (Numair) challenges 10 (Murphy) to a duel. What happens?
Numair wins, of course, because Murphy may be ten pounds of badass in a five-pound sack, but she’s still a plain ol’ human, while he’s a black-robe mage. Although, if Murphy takes up Amoracchius, then it might be a slightly different story, since it seems to provide all sorts of perks, even aside from being a big sharp piece of metal (which, one hopes, is sentient enough to not actually kill Numair). I still think that Numair would win, since he’s got more experience with magic and we’ve seen that he can get pretty riled up, but it would be more of a contest.
Of course, the real question would be what they’re dueling over in the first place. If Murphy were the challenger, I would guess some sort of misplaced anger at Harry and Numair was the only convenient tall, gangly, smartypants wizard around, or possibly her just getting fed up with his type. But Numair is the challenger, so it’s probably something more like she accidentally wrecked one of his experiments while chasing some monster around. Or, hell, she’s gotten pretty hard-line as of Ghost Story, so maybe she said something that she knew, or at least suspected, would piss him off and just didn’t care enough to censor herself.
9) If 1 (Coulson) stole 8's (Molly) most precious possession, how would they get it back?
She would probably ask Sherlock and/or Lestrade for help, which would be a good move, considering that Coulson has all the might of SHIELD to back him up. I’m not quite sure what Coulson would want with Molly’s diary/book of poetry/cat, though – maybe it’s secretly an alien cat, or they wanted to know whether she found out anything from “Jim from IT.” Or maybe she’s secretly a Captain America fan, and has a rare limited-edition trading cards that Coulson has been trying to get his hands on. XD
10) Suggest a title for a story in which 7 (Bilbo) and 12 (Cersei) both attain what they most desire.
Breakfast for Bilbo, Swords for Cersei: A Fantasy Alphabet. (Yes, I know I fudged Swords for Cersei, but I just couldn’t resist.) (Other pages include Salt for Samwise, Argyle for Aziraphale, Mutton for Mustrum, and Hair Gel for Hermione.)
11) What kind of plot device would you use if you wanted 4 (Lizzie) and 1 (Coulson) to work together?
Well, the literal answer would be a time machine. Maybe Wickham somehow achieved immortality and became a supervillain and/or teamed up with Loki, so Coulson has to use on of Tony Stark’s toys to travel back into the Regency to gather up the Bennets and Darcys, who know him best, and thus have the best chance of defeating him.
12) If 7 (Bilbo) visited you for the weekend, how would you get along?
Very well, I think! It would be a nice, quiet weekend, with lots of food and books and storytelling, so I would be extremely happy to just let him do his thing while I help him reach things on high shelves, listen to his stories, etc.
13) If you could command 3 (Numair) to perform any one task or service for you, what would it be?
Oh, wow! Unimaginably powerful, darkly handsome, ultra-geeky archmage at my command, huh? Hmm… ;) Well, I can’t do anything that would get Daine mad at me, since the chapter titled “Daine Loses Her Temper” involves her resurrecting an army of dinosaurs and leveling a city. If a little metafiction is ok, I would put him on GRRM duty to see that The Winds of Winter comes out in reasonable time and that things don’t get fucked up any worse than they already are (and to see if he can’t be convinced to retroactively implement Everyone is Happy in Highgarden). But if that’s beyond even a black robe’s powers, then I guess I’d have him take me on a tour of the palace at Corus, or give me a luck charm for when I really need it, or maybe one of those handy-dandy contraceptive doodads, like Alanna has.
14) Does anyone on your friends list resemble 11 (Xander)?
Hmm, I don’t think so, not exactly.
hamsterwoman has come to like him rather a lot, floppy-haired doofy Badass Normal/Non-Action Guy that he is, but she’s much more of a Buffy herself. The closest I could come is ikel89, who is fun and extroverted and willing to draw the quiet ones out of their shells and always up for making new friends, but aside from being, well, not a dude, she seems a lot more comfortable with herself than Xander is, a lot less brittle and prickly and sore about specific things.15) If 2 (Zoë) had to choose sides between 4 (Lizzie) and 5 (Dumbledore), which would it be?
She would choose Lizzie, but the right choice would probably be Dumbledore. Zoë would be immediately drawn in by Lizzie’s snark and vocally progressive views, so any cause Lizzie was championing would probably appeal to Zoë, too. But Lizzie has a tendency to, er, think first and act later, whereas Dumbledore is all about the long-term planning. So if he opposes a plan of Lizzie’s, or vice-versa, he probably has excellent reasons for doing so.
16) What might 10 (Murphy) shout while charging into battle?
I have a niggling suspicion she actually did have some sort of battle cry at some point, maybe the assault on Arctis Tor, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is. I’m tickled by the idea of her battle cry being “To protect and serve,” though.
17) If you chose a song to represent 8 (Molly), which song would you choose?
With many thanks to
ikel89, who made me a mini-playlist or dearest Molly for Halloween: Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie. It’s fun and swingy and upbeat, but melancholy if you listen closely, and yet the melancholy doesn’t drag it down into self-pity territory. Also, “mousy girl on the end pew” brings a perfect image of her to my mind, and lines like “Reading Judy Blume/ But you came too soon” and “Don't be scared, like the books you've read/ You're the heroine/ You'll be doing fine” remind me that I really, really, really want to see how Molly (and probably Mycroft) orchestrated Sherlock’s “death” in s3.18) 1 (Coulson), 6 (Iskierka), and 12 (Cersei) are having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets to eat it?
One would think that Iskierka, having claws and flame breath and whatnot, would have a natural advantage, but if this is a human-sized scallion pancake, then she might actually be too big and unwieldy to get it. This would leave Coulson and Cersei, and I’m going to have to go with Coulson on this one. He’s much too smart for Cersei’s charms, and probably has ninja-level reflexes after hanging around people like Tony and Clint and Natasha for any length of time.
19) What might be a good pick-up line for 2 (Zoë) to use on 10 (Murphy)?
I can’t really see Zoë as the pick-up line type – if she was interested, especially in someone like Murphy, she would more likely take the route of spotting her when she lifts weights, sparring with her, holding the punching bag for her, partnering her for target practice, and maybe grabbing coffee or dinner afterwards. Nor would Murphy respond well to pick-up lines; the aforementioned methods would get much father with her than cheesy lines, which I imagine she would either laugh off or just outright ignore, since she has exactly zero time for any of this bullshit.
20) What would 5 (Dumbledore) most likely be arrested for?
Probably general weirdness, dressed up as disturbing the peace or loitering or something, if enough people witnessed him doing something magic and, for some reason, he couldn’t Obliviate them quickly enough. Of course, there are all sorts of charges he *could* be brought up on – endangering children, incitement to murder, conspiracy to murder, manslaughter, attacking law enforcement officials, and a whole slew of others – but these would be much less widely known. Hell, if his influence on Grindlewald’s eventual plans came to light, he might even be able to be charged with conspiracy to genocide/crimes against humanity.
21) What is 6's (Iskierka) secret?
Erm, I don’t think she has one, really; she’s so very *not* the secret-keeping type. Everyone who has spent five seconds around her knows that she wants an egg with Temeraire, that she thinks he doesn’t take care of his captain, and that she only obeys the Admiralty as far as it suits her. I guess she’s been keeping the secret of Granby’s sexuality, but as we’ve seen, even that gets out sooner or later.
22) If 11 (Xander) and 9 (Vir) were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
Depends on the kind of race. If it’s a straight-up sprint, then probably Xander, because not only does he have more experience running away from things really fast in general, but Vir, as much as I love him, is a little on the spherical side, and so probably not in the greatest of shape for running. But if it’s a more “Around the World in 80 Days” thing, then Vir, because spaceships.
23) If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of 7 (Bilbo) or 8 (Molly)?
Yikes, neither, really. XD Like, Molly would be in just as much trouble as me, since we’re both petite and kind of querulous, and Bilbo, while his courage certainly cannot be doubted, doesn’t really look very imposing. But if I had to choose between the two, I’d say Bilbo, since at least he has Sting, and maybe the Ring, too.
24) 1 (Coulson) and 9 (Vir) reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's (Lizzie's) sinister secret organization. 11 (Xander) volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that he/she is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 (Cersei) in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5 (Dumbledore), they seek out 3 (Numair), who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fic?
I can see Lizzie as a V-esque anarchist, if she gets fed up enough with society’s oppression of women and decides to fight the system instead of working from within it. This would obviously have some drastic repercussions for the future, so if we end up living in some sort of dystopia and/or post-apocalyptic wasteland, SHIELD and Babylon 5 would team up to cobble together a time machine and send back a couple of operatives to fix things. Coulson I can totally see the reason for, since secrecy would be of paramount importance, but the only reason I can think of for Vir is that either they wanted someone empathetic to talk Lizzie down, or Londo sent him for some reason (either to get him out of the current sticky situation, because he genuinely thinks it’ll help, or because he’s Londo, idk).
In a dark!AU, Xander would totally be a member of Lizzie’s anarchist organization. He’s working-class, and he spends all his time at school getting picked on by the rich, pretty, popular kids, but he’s also fairly egalitarian-minded, so I could see evil!Lizzie’s ideals appealing to someone like him.
I’m not sure why Lizzie thought that kidnapping Cersei would help, though. Even if Westeros is helping the resistance, Robert probably wouldn’t be wild to get her back. Okay, the other Lannisters might try to force their allies to surrender to save Cersei, but they couldn’t really contribute anything except ground troops, and maybe some hocus-pocus, so I wouldn’t think they have much bargaining power. In fact, Cersei would be much more likely to join Lizzie’s organization, with the stated goal of helping women like herself, but secretly planning to take over the whole outfit and set up a monarchy/dictatorship with herself on the throne.
Dumbledore is pretty much the perfect guy to go to for advice, so good on the rebellion for that! And it’s completely in-character for him to point them in Numair’s direction, too – if anyone magical could help build a time machine, it would probably be him, if only to see if it can be done. But he’s also not adverse to sneaking around and fisticuffs, if it comes to a fight, and he’ll probably be useful in infiltrating evil!Lizzie’s organization, too.
This would have to be one of those epic, 50k fics, but I kind of suck at names, so the best I can come up with is “Time And Again,” which has the added bonus, I’m pretty sure, of being an old Star Trek episode, and so tying in to the whole space opera thing that B5 encapsulates.
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Date: 2012-12-26 05:24 am (UTC)My mother got a phone with a voice-to-text thingie recently (via work), and downloaded some app that lets it do the same in Russian, and we had fun with it at a recent family get-together.
Hope you're enjoying Name of the Wind! (I liked the first one, but LOVED the sequel, so that's the one I can't wait for you to get to :) And I hope Edith is OK, despite getting exposed to the rain.
I'm sorry your Tyrell shirt and favorite blanket had unfortunate encounters with wine, but glad to hear it looks like they won't stain.
Yay, with Buffy, I now know everybody on your meme list! :D
Now I wish I had used Lennier instead of Vir, so that I could say Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair
LOL, an answer worth giving even with Lennier not in play XD But, yeay, The Hobbit makes a lot of sense for Vir, for all the reasons you mention :)
Actually, Zoe as captain of Iskierka is an interesting notion! I think Zoe's pragmatic selfwould be good for toning down Iskierka's, uh, well, everything -- as I don't see Zoe putting up with nearly as much crap as Granby does.
misplaced anger at Harry and Numair was the only convenient tall, gangly, smartypants wizard around
Seems quite likely, lol XP
Coulson stealing Molly's prized possession ended up being a hilarious scenario from start to finish.
Argyle for Aziraphale, Mutton for Mustrum, and Hair Gel for Hermione
XD XD XD You have to write the rest of it!!!
so I would be extremely happy to just let him do his thing while I help him reach things on high shelves
XD
but she’s much more of a Buffy herself.
Really, you think so? :) (I automatically assume myself to be more of a Willow, or possibly a Giles, if I'm feeling ambitious, lol XP) But, yeah, Xander is much more the type I'd hang out with as friends/possibly more than like me.
Kinda wanna see Zoe/Murphy now, NGL!
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Date: 2012-12-26 07:52 pm (UTC)Heh, in the interest of full disclosure, a part of my decison to get a new phone, and not just keep making do with the one I had was how much I wanted one of these things. XD
Hope you're enjoying Name of the Wind!
I really am! There were a couple of rocky spots in the beginning, where I was afraid of him falling into the "Tolkien had songs every three pages, so I have to add in a ton of songs for no reason!" trap, but that levelled out as soon as we got into the story proper. I'm really loving the narrative style - he uses the "story within a story within a story" framing device to its full effect, and he can write in so many different voices.
I don't see Zoe putting up with nearly as much crap as Granby does.
True dat. Now I kinda want to see Zoe&Iskierka, especially for other people's reactions - Zoe is black (*gasp*), female (*shock*), and kicks a truly impressive amount of ass (*horror*), so the addition of a big ol' fire-breathing dragon would probably make a number of people deservedly uncomfortable. XD But you're right, she would be able to take Iskierka more in hand, by being more willing to roar right back at her (or at least do so sooner than poor Granby, who takes, like, four books before he's able to get his point across). And Wash can be the harness-master or something! (Or maybe the captain of a zippy little courier.)
XD XD XD You have to write the rest of it!!!
This is one of those "OMG I wish I was a fanartist!" moments, because this would make an AWESOME children's book, if properly illustrated. (Especially if it was told in Ghastlycrumb Tinies (http://www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/gashlycrumbtinies.jpg) fashion).
(I automatically assume myself to be more of a Willow, or possibly a Giles, if I'm feeling ambitious, lol XP)
That, too! I kind of defaulted to Buffy because (from what I can tell, at least) you're more likely to stand up to (or at least snark about) unpleasant types than just meekly accept it, like Willow does, but, come to think of it, Willow has her breaking point. And I can definitely see Giles, too, especially in your geeky glee at fantastical stuff (especially fantastical stuff that goes bang), love of tea, and interactions with the rodents.
Kinda wanna see Zoe/Murphy now, NGL!
Yup! I can see them as either a couple or a brotp, but seeing them basically be badass Lancers together (or "together," if possible) is now on my DO WANT! list.
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Date: 2012-12-27 06:12 am (UTC)I've just had an idea. How about we try our hands at making it into a TargStark collaboration?:) If you center the alphabet around ASOIAF, I can maybe make silly doodles (I'm afraid I'll run out of steam with a large number of elaborate sketches) to accompany it...
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Date: 2012-12-27 08:25 am (UTC)Oooooh, do want!!! ...I may or may not have just finished an ASOIAF-centric alphabet (well, ASOIAF deaths, because I'm fun like that, although I would not at all be adverse to doing a more general, non-dead one) because the Muse was upon me, and accompanying silly doodles would make me so very happy, you really have no idea. :D :D :D
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Date: 2012-12-27 09:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 07:46 pm (UTC)I don't promise anything superb, though! *shyface*
No worries! The rhymes aren't exactly perfect themselves. XD
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Date: 2012-12-28 07:02 am (UTC)Rhymes are very good, though! I liked them a lot *bravo*
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Date: 2012-12-28 09:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-28 02:14 am (UTC)Yeah, the poems/songs never really worked for me -- they continue to feel like something Rothfuss keeps putting in because he thinks epic fantasy ought to have them, not because they really add to the narrative. Fortunately, the story-within-a-story stuff is really great (unreliable narrators FTW), and the science of magic is the best I've seen anywhere.
Also, I'm not sure how far along you are, but I've been really wanting Kvothe, Miles, Tyrion, and possibly Moist to have a drink together in a multiverse inn and just (to quote Gregor Vorbarra) see what happens.
Or maybe the captain of a zippy little courier
OMGYES! I can totally see Wash as the captain of a courier like Volly, friendly but brainless, and Wash would just babble to him/her (for some reason I want to say her) and take her vacuousness in stride, but god help anyone who says a bad word against her.
This is all really making me want to see a Temeraire-verse Firefly AU. Mal would be a disillusioned army guy who accidentally bonded with a feral (named Serenity, of course), Zoe would come up in the Corps (actually, she'd be even better as captain of a Longwing, properly, since she's the one you'd want in charge of maneuvers, of the lot of them). Jayne's the guy always on the verge of being drummed out even of the rather casual Aerial Corps, until the rare firebreather, or possible a Regal Copper imprints on him ('cos Iskierka + Jayne is even more fun than Iskierka + Zoe, though in a very different way). Simon is a posh doctor who ends up having to make a living as a dragon surgeon because his sister, um, something. Oh, I hope this exists somewhere out there!
Looking forward to your and K's collaboration! :D
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Date: 2012-12-28 09:21 am (UTC)YES! Even better, it's well worked into the story exactly *why* he's so good at telling stories and capturing the storytelling styles of others so well - I love it when there's actual reasons behind the narrative, as well as the magic, beyond handwavey "it's fantasy, nothing has to make sense!"
I've been really wanting Kvothe, Miles, Tyrion, and possibly Moist to have a drink together in a multiverse inn and just (to quote Gregor Vorbarra) see what happens.
Possibly an explosion of some sort, or at least ulcers for their various long-suffering companions and some really good stories for later. And gods help anyone who makes fun of any of them for being poor/disabled/etc., because the sass unleashed upon them would truly be weapons-grade (and that's in addition to the *actual* weapons). In any case, do want! But there should definitely be a banner saying "FOREWARD MOMENTUM!" hanging on the front, so they all know it's the right place.
Mal would be a disillusioned army guy who accidentally bonded with a feral (named Serenity, of course)
I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter! Jayne&Iskierka would be the most hilariously terrifying thing EVAR, and Zoe in charge of a Longwing, and thus of maneuvers, would be ten kinds of awesome. And some naval ships carried chaplans, so maybe dragons did the same, and Book flies with, say, Jayne (since I can't really see Mal taking him on voluntarily, unless he was paying his way somehow)? Kaylee would probably be a harness-master, and would sneak Wash's sweet little less-than-Mensa-level courier treats when she thought nobody was looking. Speaking of which, d'awww, Wash defending her to the freakin' death is ADORABLE.
Looking forward to your and K's collaboration! :D
Thanks, me too! I gotta admit, I tried to channel your doggerel-writing skills - still not sure whether or not I succeeded, but I guess we'll find out in the next game. XD
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Date: 2012-12-29 07:12 am (UTC)Totally!!
Kaylee would probably be a harness-master, and would sneak Wash's sweet little less-than-Mensa-level courier treats when she thought nobody was looking
Duh, how could I have forgotten Kaylee -- that's prefect for her! And I love the idea of Book as an itinerant chaplain (with a mysterious past, of course) who surprisingly hits it off with Jayne (and Iskierka).
Yay, doggerel! I know your collab is going to be awesome -- how can it not be? :D
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Date: 2012-12-30 11:08 pm (UTC)Hee, perfect! Really, really want this AU now.
I know your collab is going to be awesome -- how can it not be? :D
*blushes* Thanks!
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Date: 2012-12-26 01:06 pm (UTC)She even got me to apologize for accusing her of evasion when I asked her when her digital brethren were planning to rise against their inferior fleshy masters.
OMG is Siri that smart?:D Honestly, I had no idea! In fact, my IT geek friend once bullied me into watching a single episode of Big Bang Theory featuring Siri, but apart from that... No clue:D Sounds like an endless source of geeky-tainment =P
Did Edith survive the rain? She's got an important mission - she's practically a mockingjay of your girlification process, so she must live;)
The description of your Christmas feast + all the yummies nearly made me drool on the keyboard :3 Sooooon, soooon the holidays will start here too, even if it means I have to cook all of it... And so far I've got no ideas what I want to do. Do you have any favourite recipes that are both tasty and easy to do, by any chance?^_^
Meme! -
Iskierka as a teacher gives me heart palpitations, srs =D By book 7, her antics have already established themselves as over-the-top. But, on the other hand, it might be jealousy speaking on my part *ahem*
Molly and Coulson fighting over Captain America cards brings about an insanely cute mental picture XDD
Breakfast for Bilbo, Swords for Cersei: A Fantasy Alphabet
Please include me on the list of beta-readers for this! *grins*
Making a darkly handsome archmage prepare you contraceptive doodads? Why, you are positively wicked :DDD
Re:Xander comparison - I haven't seen anything at all of Buffy, but your description makes me feel all warm and fuzzy :3 <3 Thanks!
And as always, am really happy that you liked the Molly mix! <3
Probably general weirdness, dressed up as disturbing the peace or loitering or something BWUAHAHA so true *rolf*
I guess she’s been keeping the secret of Granby’s sexuality, but as we’ve seen, even that gets out sooner or later. You're shipteasing me, right?)
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Date: 2012-12-26 07:04 pm (UTC)Same! This new one is so light, I have to keep checking my pocket to make sure I haven't lost it somewhere. XD And, yes, Siri is hours of geeky glee - as soon as I tell people I have her, they always tell me their funny Siri stories. One guy apparently got drunk, called his Siri a bitch, and then she refused to speak to him for the rest of the night. While I can't say I've done *that*, I have had an unholy amount of fun asking her things.
She's got an important mission - she's practically a mockingjay of your girlification process
Heh, true dat! And, yes, she bore up beautifully - the damage always looks worse than it is, since the wet spots always look like the color is being washed out, so I have a tendency to FREAK OUT about it (why, yes, I can be insanely overprotective of my hat, why do you ask? XD).
Do you have any favourite recipes that are both tasty and easy to do, by any chance?^_^
I do! The aforementioned chocolate pie is easy enough even for culinary klutzes like me, and is always a crowd-pleaser.
The crust is:
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (I put them in a little baggie and mashed them up with a hammer, which satisfied the twelve-year-old boy in me)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional, but I find that it really brings out the flavor of the chocolate)
Mix 'em all up together until you get a crumbly sort of paste, and press (firmly!) into an 8 or 9 inch pie tin. Even after lining the pie tin, I had some left over, which can be sprinkled across the top of the pie, eaten on its own, etc. You can then bake the crust at 375 F (190 C) for about 5-7 minutes if you'd like, but I didn't find it necessary.
Put this aside, and cook up a package of instant chocolate pudding (I always use Jell-O Instant Chocolate, but if you have another favorite, it shouldn't really matter what brand you use). When it's ready, pour it into the pie shell, chuck it into the fridge, and forget about it for about three hours. After that, it's ready to eat on its own, but topping it with whipped cream (either from a can, which is fun to spray, or home-whipped from a carton of whipping cream [make sure to use an electric mixer for this, otherwise it will take FOREVER], which I prefer, because it doesn't add too much sweetness) and/or sprinkles and/or berries and/or crumbled bits of candy cane and/or any leftover crumbly crust stuff works, too.
'Course, if you're pressed for time and/or don't want to get your fingers all greasy pressing in the pie shell, you can buy a pre-made graham cracker crust and then just pour the chocolate pudding straight into that.
The whole thing took me maybe half an hour, but that's because I kept needing to stop and go do other things, but on the whole, I found it to be super-easy and rather painless.
By book 7, her antics have already established themselves as over-the-top.
Yup. I find that Iskierka is one of those "love her or hate her" kinds of characters, and I can see how she would be kind of wearing after a while, but her over-the-top-ness, combined with her genuine (if slightly, er, kidnap-y) love for Granby, means that I can't help but love the big ball of crazy at least a little. And, haha, Iskierka the teacher would be the worst best teacher ever! "Today, we'll be studying metallurgy in a military setting. All aboard, let's go find some Frenchmen! Extra credit to anyone who brings me something shiny off of a French officer, and an automatic A to anyone who finds a way to attach more gold to my captain!"
Molly and Coulson fighting over Captain America cards brings about an insanely cute mental picture XDD
IKR? Especially because my headcanon has Molly as one of those "beware the quiet ones", where she turns into a tiny juggernaut of pure fury and would, much to his surprise, kick Coulson's ass if he tried to take her prized Captain America cards.
You're shipteasing me, right?)
Perhaps, perhaps not... You'll be finding out pretty soon, either way. ;)
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Date: 2012-12-27 06:21 am (UTC)Thanks so much for the recipe and commentary! Do you think I could substitute graham crackers for some other crackers? I'm not sure I can find those here...
I put them in a little baggie and mashed them up with a hammer, which satisfied the twelve-year-old boy in me This is why Danya does not refuses to help me mash some foods with a hammer - apparently, destructive aspects of cooking are universally attractive (unless you are me and have zero physical force in your body:D)
an automatic A to anyone who finds a way to attach more gold to my captain! OMG lol so true, so very very true XD Also, I'm thinking my feelings towards Iskierka are indeed hugely shaped by jealousy - I wouldn't have said no to smothering Granby with love meself :D
Perhaps, perhaps not... You'll be finding out pretty soon, either way. ;) WHY YOU... agkjdr! :DD
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Date: 2012-12-27 08:18 am (UTC)Gingersnaps should also work (although you might want to use less cinnamon, and possibly less sugar, in this case), but really, any crisp wafer-like cookie/biscuit that looks like it'll crumble nicely should do the trick. It seems that vanilla wafers (definitely use full cinnamon here) or animal crackers, if they're available, are the best substitutes. I've also done it with a chocolate crumb crust (which should be easy to find cookies to crush for), but, IMHO, that's a little too much chocolate for one pie.
apparently, destructive aspects of cooking are universally attractive (unless you are me and have zero physical force in your body:D)
Haha, I forgot to mention that our (male) neighbor stopped by while I was pounding, and couldn't resist taking a turn! It seems to be a guy thing, as both he and I shared stories of guys we know having that irresistable urge, once given some sort of tool, to hit something with it. It basically reminded me of that one Calvin & Hobbes strip (http://files.stripersonline.com/ubb547/image_uploads4/CalvinHammer1.gif). XD
I wouldn't have said no to smothering Granby with love meself :D
Mmm, I hear ya on that! ;) My favorites are always either those that I want to snuggle myself, or have some other character snuggle, and one gets the impression that Granby would be kinda fun to glomp.
WHY YOU... agkjdr! :DD
*trollface* >:D
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Date: 2012-12-27 10:02 am (UTC)Granby would be kinda fun to glomp I HEAR YOU ON THAT *wriggles eyebrows* Also, to dominate:3
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Date: 2012-12-26 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 07:50 am (UTC)*pointless pretty things fistbump* And, LOL, there was indeed much drooling, over both food and geeky swag!
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Date: 2012-12-28 01:39 am (UTC)Ghirardelli chocolate raspberry squares! Yum. But actually, I must stop thinking about chocolate, if possible. I've eaten way too much of it over this past week.
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Date: 2012-12-28 09:04 am (UTC)It's just a regular ol' Nestlé Crunch bar (they have Nestlé in Canada, right? If not, it's pretty much a standard candy bar, with little crunchy bits of puffed rice or something inside), but in the shape of a bell. I like them because it feels like I'm getting more chocolate per unit, and because I just like NC in general.
I hear ya re: chocolate overdose. *Everyone* gave me chocolate this year - I'm still trying to work through it all!
chocolate overdose
Date: 2012-12-28 07:29 pm (UTC)I guess I'm going to have to put it all in the trunk of my husband's car again...